FOOTBALL: Hurricanes keep eye on injuries

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth of a five-part series on player safety and the prevention of injuries with our area football teams. The series will conclude in Saturday's Sun Journal on how a different local team works to prevent common sports injuries.

Editor’s Note: This is the fourth of a five-part series on player safety and the prevention of injuries with our area football teams. The series will conclude in Saturday's Sun Journal on how a different local team works to prevent common sports injuries.

BAYBORO – Injuries are a part of football.

Players are going to get banged up through the daily grind of contact, and sometimes feel tired and faint during a practice in the simmering August heat.

Unlike 4A or 3A schools, the Pamlico Hurricanes, playing at the 1A level, don't a large crop of athletes on their roster.

One injury could be costly.

Pamlico's first-year head coach Kevin Yost, a former head coach at West Craven, is cautious when it comes to player safety.

“Stuff like that is scary, especially with head injuries,” said Yost. “The kids have to know the correct way to tackle, but they are kids and are going to make mistakes. You really have to teach them to do things the right way, and you have to get them to buy in that they have to do it the right way or they are going to get hurt.”

A rule was put in place in 2009 that each high school football team in North Carolina had to have a trainer or first responder on the sidelines for every game and practice.

The first responder is not only there in case an injury occurs, but they let the coaches know when it is too hot outside for practice.

“We are going in the evenings to try and take away from some of that,” Yost said. “Our biggest thing is hydration during this time of the year. We have water at each station and we tell our guys we want them drinking water all the time.”

Whether it's injuries to a player's body, a concussion or fatigue from the heat, Yost said the Hurricanes' coaching staff is always prepared.

One of the most pressing challenges Yost has faced since his transition from the larger West Craven to a smaller Pamlico County is adapting to an injury to a player or two.

To put it in perspective, his West Craven squad had more than 40 players in his final season as Eagles' head coach in 2011. Last season, the Hurricanes barely had 25 players.

“That's been one of the biggest adjustments for me, going from 3A, where you can maybe have 11 guys that play offense and 11 other guys play defense, to here where you have 11 guys that are going to play on both sides of the ball,” Yost said.

The majority of Yost's players will start on offense and defense, and play nearly every snap.

He makes sure the team is conditioned well enough to take on the task of playing an entire game, but also pays attention to see if the players are well hydrated.

Page 2 of 2 - “We have to condition like they are going to play every snap,” Yost said. “We don't want to take it so easy to the point where they aren't prepared to come out and play both ways.”

Another disadvantage of not having a large amount of athletes is that the second team is often far behind the starters.

This offseason, Yost is challenging the back-ups to be ready for playing time.

“One of ours goals this summer is to close the gap between the first team and second team,” he said. “If you are not careful, at this level, you could have a first team and then the second team is a big drop off.

“We try to get a No. 2, or back-up, that won't hurt us.”

There is one thing the Hurricanes have in common with larger schools – player safety is a priority.

Adam Thompson can be reached at 252-635-5669 or at Adam.Thompson@newbernsj.com. Follow Adam on Twitter @Adam_matic.